GURMUKH SINGH LAMMA, a commander in Maharaja Ranjit Singh `s army, born in 1772, was of humble origin, his father, Pardhan Singh, being a money-changer in the small town of Khiva, situated on the right bank of the River Jehlum. Lamma in Punjabi means tall, but the cognomen Lamma

JONES, a deserter from the East India Company`s service, joined Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army as a gunner. According to Charles Masson, the traveller, Jones participated in the final battle of Multan in 1818 and took charge of the guns, enabling the Akalis to storm the fort.

KIRPA RAM, DIWAN (d. 1843), civil administrator, soldier and statesman in Sikh times, was the youngest son of Diwan Moti Ram. In 1819, Kirpa Ram was sent by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to Hazara to settle that turbulent country. The same year he was transferred to the Jalandhar Doab as governor

MANGAL SINGH (d. 1864), manager of Prince Kharak Singh`s estates in Sikh times, came of a Sandhu family of the village of Sirarivali, in Sialkot district, which traced its ancestry to one Husain who founded, at the beginning of sixteenth century, Hasanvala, a village in Gujrariwala district. Mangal Singh`s

NANAK CHAND (d. 1831), the eldest son of Hoshnak Rai and a brother of Diwan Savan Mall, governor of Multan in Sikh times, entered the service of Dal Singh of Akalgarh in 1788. He served that chief until his death in 1804 when the estate of Akalgarh, which was

ROSSAIX(d. 1844), a Frenchman, who was a skilled road engineer and who had served in Napoleon`s army. He came to the Punjab in 1843 to take up service under the Sikh Maharaja. His salary was fixed at Rs 500 per month. His main charge was the construction of bridges

SULTAN MAHMUD KHAN (d. 1859) , son of General Ghaus Khan, was a commander of a section of heavy artillery during the regime of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. His derah of artillery was designated as Topkhanai Sultan Mahmud. After the death of General Ghaus Khan in 1814, although the chief command

THARAJ SINGH, an eighteenth century warrior, was one of seven sons of Bhai Nagahia* grandson of Bhai Kala of Laungoval. Receiving the vows of Khalsa discipline at the hands of Bhai Mani Singh, he chose to stay with him at Amritsar to defend the Harimandar against the onslaughts of the

ARUR SINGH, SARDAR BAHADUR SIR (1865-1926), sarbarah (manager) of the principal Sikh shrines at Amritsar and Tarn Taran from 1907 to 1920, much maligned for his role during the popular movement for reform in the managment of Sikh shrines, came of a well known Shergil family of Naushahra in

CHANDU SHAH, a wealthy banker and revenue official at the Mughal court at Lahore. He earned the annoyance of Sikhs by uttering disparaging words when his family priest proposed Guru Arjan`s son, Hargobind, for his daughter who was of marriageable age. Chandu Shah accepted the suggestion but with reluctance

CHUHAR SINGH, owning allegiance to the Shahid misi, was a close relation of the Bhangi sardar, Rai Singh, the conqueror of Jagadhri and Dialgarh. He received the Jarauli area as his share of the spoils after the sack of Sirhind in January 1764. He retained ten villages for himself